Clarke was also invited to speak at last month’s Republican National Convention, an eyebrow-raising choice, since he has a long record of extremism, including support for radical anti-government groups. As we wrote at the time:

While Clarke has no patience for African Americans who have deadly run-ins with the police, he has repeatedly associated himself with anti-government militia groups who have staged armed standoffs with federal government agents or who threaten to defy federal law. Earlier this year, when a group of armed activists took over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, Clarke backed their cause, saying that the country had reached a “pitchforks and torches moment” that couldn’t be solved by an election.

Just this year, Clarke spoke at a fundraising event for the New York chapter of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government group aligned with the Constitutional Sheriffs that urges law enforcement officers and military personnel to defy laws they believe are unconstitutional and encourages its members to form militias ready to defy an out-of-control federal government. At that event, Clarke called Black Lives Matter a “hate group” and vowed to do “everything I can” to get Trump elected president.

Trump effusively praised Clarke in the interview, saying that from the first time he saw Clarke in a Fox News appearance, he knew he was “absolutely terrific” and saying that it was a “great honor” to receive Clarke’s endorsement.

From white supremacists to the radical Religious Right, right-wing extremism is on the rise. Pledge to stand against hate.

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